Tell Them What To Do!
"We cannot tell the company what to do!"
Or…
"It's their company!"
The source of this ridiculous business unionist mantra is rooted in the misinterpretation of Article 2.6 in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. The article is also defined as the NON-INTERFERENCE clause:
The Authority shall be at liberty at all times during the existence of this Agreement, and subject to provisions hereof, to operate its property according to its best judgment and the orders of competent authority. Local 241 and Local 308 agree that neither will in any way interfere with or limit the right of the Authority to discharge or discipline its employees covered by this Agreement, where sufficient cause can be shown, except for membership in Local 241 or Local 308.
They always stop at the comma in the second sentence and blurt out "we can't tell the CTA what to do!"
Yeah, I guess that makes sense then. We can't tell the CTA the what to do.
However, according to the rules of English grammar, a comma is not a period. It is merely a pause between parts in a sentence. A period means that there is no further discussion. The comma means there is more to understand.
What how do the last 15 words after the comma give us more understanding?
…where sufficient cause can be shown, except for membership in Local 241 or Local 308.
Those last 15 words are actually the most powerful and definitive part of Article 2.6! Moreover, this part essentially modifies the meaning from NON-INTERFERENCE to JUST CAUSE. Some clever lawyers knew an ALL CAPS heading would taint the reader's understanding.
Keep reading.
Those words clearly invalidate any interpretation that business unionists use to justify doing nothing to fight back and relying on the misconception that we can't tell the CTA what to do! Moreover, the last 15 words have two specific meanings that clarify the first sentence of Article 2.6.
Punishment
Let's start with the idea that we can't tell the CTA what to do regarding punishment (so-called discipline).
The phrase sufficient cause is deep!
That phrase it is probably the most powerful weapon we have as workers in a Collective Bargaining Agreement ("Contract"). Every decent Contract has a provision for Just Cause. The phrase Sufficient Cause is legally synonymous with Just Cause.
Just Cause: Get The Facts
Just Cause means that the CTA manager has a legally, sufficient reason to punish a worker. There are seven legal tests to determine Just Cause. UE and AFSCME have excellent resources to help you do it. I also highly recommend the book about about it from Labor Notes.
Summary of the Seven Tests:
- Prior Notice: Self-evident misconduct and notification of penalties.
- Recent Enforcement: Proving lax enforcement and resetting.
- Due Process: Obligation to interview and union assistance
- Substantial Evidence: Standards of proof and disputing evidence.
- Equal Treatment: Making the case and valid distinctions.
- Progressive Discipline: Tenets, graduated penalty and zero-tolerance.
- Mitigating Circumstances: Time on the job, work record, insufficient staffing, harassment.
Example #1: The manager smokes while on CTA property. He writes a worker up for smoking too. Was that manager written up for doing it? He cannot justly punish you for violating the same rule. This fails Equal Treatment and Recent Enforcement.
Example #2: The manager frequently calls you on your personal cell phone regarding work and/or personal topics. The manager writes you up when using your cell phone while on duty. This fails tests for Equal Treatment and Mitigating Circumstances
Example #3: The manager writes you up for getting hurt while installing a part on a train. There is no policy, tools or procedure for installing that part. This fails tests for Substantial Evidence and Mitigating Circumstances.
Exception?!
What about the second half of the last 15 words?
…except for membership in Local 241 and Local 308.
It is exactly what it reads: We, the union, can INDEED interfere with or limit the CTA's unjust punishment if that worker is a member! Unjust means the punishment lacks Just Cause. As I explained earlier, Just Cause is synonymous with Sufficient Cause.
However, the second half of the last 15 words make it clear that we cannot limit or interfere with the unjust punishment for any other bargained-for (union) or non-union employee.
Running The CTA
So now that I have proven that we can tell the CTA what to do regarding punishment, what about when we are told that we cannot tell the CTA how to run their company?
The Authority shall be at liberty at all times during the existence of this Agreement, and subject to provisions hereof, to operate its property according to its best judgment and the orders of competent authority.
Nowhere does it say that we can't tell them how to run the CTA! It only states that they are "at liberty…" to operate its property.
The New Oxford American Dictionary defines liberty (noun) as: The power or scope to act as one pleases.
This is a given fact: They are the employer. We are the worker. We know best and should always share what we think—and bargain for accordingly—when it comes to wages and working conditions. How they choose to run it affects our wages and working conditions.
We can tell them how to run their company. Whether or not they comply, that is another story!
Conclusion
Yes, we can absolutely tell CTA management what to do regarding the operation and maintenance of buses, trains and facilities where we work. Also, when they try to unjustly punish us, we can limit and interfere with their right to write up and fire us.
With the help of clever and immoral lawyers, we have been deceived and lied to by generations of business unionists. The reasons are obvious:
The elected union leaders are either totally compromised or simply lazy.
Telling members that we can't tell the CTA what to do is utterly anti-union, anti-human and anti-democratic.
Simply put…
Ask the person who tells you that self-defeating mantra: Are you saying we don't need a union?
If the person answers no, then ask: Then what use is a union if we cannot tell our employer what to do and limit their power to unjustly punish us?
Excellent work Eric.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ken!
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